While French sports fans may remember the golden age of the USVO (Union Sportive Valenciennes Olympic) basketball team, winners of the Euroleague in 2002 and 2004 and seven-time French champions, the Valenciennes area also conjures up images of Paris-Roubaix. In 1970, Roger De Vlaeminck was still to win the queen of the Classics, but he made the most of the cobbled sectors that preceded the finish in Valenciennes to win his only Tour stage. In 1984, a team time trial in the town was won by the Renault-Elf team of future champion Laurent Fignon.
- Stage town for the 5th time
- Sub-prefecture of the department of Nord (59)
- Population: 43,000 (Valenciennois and Valenciennoises); 2,611,000 within the department of Nord; 5,996,000 within the Hauts-de-France region
